Are the elderly averse to technology?

Abstract

In 2018, I interviewed seven people from the ‘silent generation’ to find out what they thought about information technology, whether they were averse to it, and why. Using this snap-shot image from Hornchurch Tapestry day care centre, this paper analyses the human activity system that frames how the elderly interact with the technology that surrounds them. It details what these interactions consist of, investigates how the participants view the purpose of the technology and explores how they ‘feel’ about their interactions with it. Ultimately, this paper challenges a societal assumption that elderly people are averse to information technology. The elderly use different technologies for different purposes and in different contexts. The Tapestry interviews highlight how critical family pressure was in determining how the elderly feel about information technology and their decisions to interact with it.